By Keith Idec
Boxer Tevin Farmer is recovering Sunday from a gunshot wound to his right hand.
Farmer was shot early Saturday night in his hometown of Philadelphia as part of a domestic dispute that, according to multiple sources, involved the boyfriend of Farmer’s sister. A photo of the 130-pound contender handcuffed to a hospital gurney has been circulating on social media since late Saturday night.
Farmer, who turned 27 on Sunday, is not expected to face charges in relation to the incident, in which his promoter, Lou DiBella, said Farmer’s brother also was shot in the face. A thankful Farmer expressed his appreciation to fans for their concern in an Instagram post Sunday afternoon.
“I wanna thank everyone for the love and support,” Farmer wrote on Instagram. “It really mean a lot to me. I’m ok. Will be back soon. Btw it’s my BIRTHDAY DAY.”
The talented southpaw was supposed to travel from Philadelphia to Brooklyn on Saturday night to attend the card headlined by Mikey Garcia and Adrien Broner. That 10-bout card was co-promoted by DiBella, who learned of Farmer getting shot during the post-fight press conference.
Earlier Saturday evening, unbeaten IBF super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis discussed the possibility of facing Farmer eventually. Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) and Farmer (25-4-1, 5 KOs) have engaged in trash talk both in person and through social media over the past several months.
Farmer isn’t a puncher, but he has developed into a legitimate contender since suffering an eighth-round technical knockout loss to former IBF 130-pound champion Jose Pedraza (22-1, 12 KOs) in October 2012. He has won 18 straight fights since Pedraza defeated him, a loss that dropped his record to 7-4-1 nearly five years ago.
The severity of the damage done to Farmer’s hand is not known, nor is the amount of time it’ll keep Farmer from boxing.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.